Even With A 28% Surge, Cautious Investors Are Not Rewarding Palred Technologies Limited's (NSE:PALREDTEC) Performance Completely

Palred Technologies Limited (NSE:PALREDTEC) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 28% gain in the last month alone. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 22% is also fairly reasonable.

Even after such a large jump in price, Palred Technologies may still be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.9x, since almost half of all companies in the IT industry in India have P/S ratios greater than 4.7x and even P/S higher than 10x are not unusual. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Check out our latest analysis for Palred Technologies

How Has Palred Technologies Performed Recently?

For example, consider that Palred Technologies' financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader industry in the near future. Those who are bullish on Palred Technologies will be hoping that this isn't the case so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Palred Technologies, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

Palred Technologies' P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling revenue, and importantly, perform much worse than the industry.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 1.1%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 66% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been more than adequate for the company.

Comparing that to the industry, which is only predicted to deliver 7.8% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

With this in mind, we find it intriguing that Palred Technologies' P/S isn't as high compared to that of its industry peers. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Key Takeaway

Even after such a strong price move, Palred Technologies' P/S still trails the rest of the industry. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

We're very surprised to see Palred Technologies currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. Potential investors that are sceptical over continued revenue performance may be preventing the P/S ratio from matching previous strong performance. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see a lot of volatility.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Palred Technologies you should know about.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Palred Technologies, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.